


Respite

by langmaor



Category: Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu | Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
Genre: Late Night Conversations, M/M, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-26 15:45:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12062079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/langmaor/pseuds/langmaor
Summary: "Oh, right, you're going to see your brother after quite a while. Excited?"Azel rolled his eyes. "Oh, yes, so very excited. Not."





	Respite

**Author's Note:**

> No major spoilers beyond chapter 1 of the game. Also I spell his name Azel bc THATS HOW IT SHOULD BE

Lex awoke on the same hard, stone floor he'd fallen asleep on; he was fairly sure his back was going to become one with it in the very near future unless they secured proper bedding. He spotted Azel from his awkward position, seated with a book in his hands that he wasn't looking at.

He scratched the back of his ear, continuing to stare. He'd never been a quick riser. Azel noticed, however, and jolted back to life with a jerk that caused a piece of paper from his book to flit down to the ground.

Lex didn't need to look to know what it would be, but it caught his eye anyways. He'd recognize those crisp colours anywhere.

Azel didn't immediately rise to recover it, so Lex did. He crawled out of his bedroll, frowned at the way the cold stung, and bent down to pick it up.

"Here," he offered, placing it between the pages of Azel's book. Only then did he notice he'd slipped it in the wrong way; Lord Arvis's esteemed visage was pointed in his direction. He cursed under his breath before reclaiming the portrait and sliding it in the right way.

Azel smiled at the silly mistake, losing some of his melancholy. Lex sunk into the space on the berth next to the second-in-line.

...With his back against a window. Oh, it wasn't even dawn yet.

"What are you doing this late at night?" Lex probed, resting his head against Azel's shoulder. It was warmer than the glass of the window, to say the least.

"Couldn't sleep," Azel quipped back. "I was... thinking about stuff."

"Oh yeah?" Lex yawned out, "like what?"

"Tomorrow, to be precise."

Azel gripped the book in his hands tighter. Only now was Lex able to see the title: it was a collection of bedtime stories for children.

"Oh, right, you're going to see your brother after quite a while. Excited?"

Azel rolled his eyes. "Oh, yes, so very excited. Not."

Lex snorted in laughter, but quickly collected himself.

"So, what are you so jittery about?"

Azel took a moment to throw a half-hearted glare his way before he opened up.

"Even before I left, he... Brother was changing. And we both know there's something strange about this invitation business, I just... got to thinking about what could happen tomorrow and I couldn't sleep."

Lex hummed in agreement.

"I agree with you, but Lord Sigurd trusts your brother wholeheartedly. We can't stop him from going, and so..."

"...we need to be there, to protect him from whatever Brother is planning." Azel completed, forlorn. Somehow, he'd expected Lex to come up with a magical solution that the mage himself hadn't come to think of, despite knowing that wasn't possible.

"Exactly," Lex nodded. "Besides, there's always the possibility that he isn't actually planning anything. Maybe he really does just want to celebrate our victory."

Azel laughed bitterly. "It's possible. But I... I can't forget how cold he'd grown, he... he's changed, and not for the better; I just know it. That... was partly why I was so eager to leave home."

"Tell me about it," Lex laughed. "I'm lucky I caught you in time."

A genuine smile spread across Azel's face. "Don't remind me. If I'd known you'd steal a horse and hoof it all the way to Belhalla, I wouldn't have written to you in the first place!"

Lex chuckled. "You weren't the only one eager to leave home, and I was worried about you."

Azel let out a long-suffering sigh, choosing to hold his tongue.

"So, now that we've established we're going either way, we should probably get back to sleep."

"I don't think I could," Azel replied, "but yes, you definitely should. You're half snoring already."

"Oh, no, you need the rest as much as I do."

"True, but it doesn't mean I'm going to get it," he complained.

Lex rolled his eyes. "Fine, we can sleep in the same bedroll, just like old times."

Azel stared at him. "Don't be silly. That was about, what, twice, and more importantly, forever ago."

Lex felt the back of his neck grow warmer. "Yeah, and you slept like a baby each time."

"You have a point."

"Don't I always?" Lex asked, slipping an arm around him.

Azel elbowed him in the ribs. "Very well, proposal accepted."

He tucked the portrait securely inside the pages of the book, and left it on the window-seat, rising. Azel groaned as he stretched; he must have been sitting like that for an hour at the very least. Lex was reluctant to move, having established a spot that was deliciously warm, but tore himself away from it thinking of the marginally more comfortable covers he was going to slip into.

Azel had already tucked himself in, as far to the corner as he could go. As considerate of others as ever.

"You're going to roll over and freeze to death," Lex chastised him, pulling the sheets over both of them.

Azel made a face and moved closer. "That would be most unpleasant."

"Don't I know it," Lex shuddered, recalling the time he had done the exact same thing.

Azel laughed at the memory for barely a second before the serious expression was back on again.

"Lex, earlier, I..."

"Hm?"

"I said I couldn't sleep thinking about tomorrow, but honestly, it's not that simple. It's like - I can feel something very dark, very malevolent around us. I feel as if, with every passing moment, it's coiling around us, choking the life-"

"Shh..."

Lex took hold of Azel's hand, grasping it firmly, rubbing circles into it with his thumb.

Azel sighed, closed his eyes and pulled himself closer. He'd always been a worrywart, but within good reason, Lex knew. He was probably right about there being something fishy, but even if he was, there was nothing the two of them could do about it.

Even if they were walking straight to their deaths...

Azel's breathing evened out, chest rising and falling rhythmically. Lex gazed fondly at the sight, recalling how quickly Azel fell asleep as long as someone was near. Lex's own eyelids were growing heavy.

Just before sleep claimed him, his gaze rested on his discarded clothes, hanging on the wall. He could almost feel the exact shape of the ring in the pocket, a testament to how many times he'd nervously held it tight, unable to voice the love he felt.

He felt warmth bubbling inside him, looking forward to the day he would be bold enough to offer it to the man beside him. That day might not have been today, but it would certainly come. It surely would...

He fell asleep, lulled by the sweet dreams his mind conjured...

**Author's Note:**

> i myself cried at what an asshole i was to make this so hopeful when we both know what happens next. i want to kick my own ass,


End file.
